Encouraged by a Miracle
From the very beginning, Gil Cisneros, who earned an MBA from Regis in 2002, has been motivated by the importance of a quality education and a desire to serve others. Growing up in Southern California, Cisneros’ parents encouraged him to do well in school, but he also developed a dream at a young age to become an officer in the Navy. Where that dream came from and how to achieve it, he wasn’t sure.
“I knew what I wanted to do, just not how to do it,” Cisneros said. “School came first and this goal led me down a path of what I eventually ended up achieving.”
After high school, Cisneros joined the Navy, and was selected to participate in the Navy’s affirmative action program. After successful completion he received an ROTC scholarship and attended The George Washington University and graduated in 1994. He was commissioned a Naval Supply Officer, managing the business aspects of the Navy for 10 years. While on shore duty, a fellow officer encouraged Cisneros to make the most of his time and suggested he pursue an MBA. The Jesuit, Catholic mission of Regis, a college on the forefront of online education at the time, caught his eye. With his degree from Regis, he was able to advance his career and better support the mission of the Navy.
But throughout his education, service and travels, Cisneros was always drawn back to his childhood and the community in which he was raised.
In 2010, Cisneros’ life shifted and a new opportunity came his way. On May 4, 2010, he and his wife, Jacki, won the lottery for $266 million.
“The night I won the lottery, we had about 10 seconds of excitement, followed by a sense of fear and thoughts of ‘what do we need to do?’” Cisneros said. “The first thing I did the next morning was attend Mass to thank God for the gift he gave us.”
Shortly after, the couple started the Gilbert and Jacki Cisneros Family Foundation to serve the students of Pico Rivera, California by offering college scholarships. However, he found that there was a surplus of scholarships at the end of the year – students were not applying for them and he didn’t know why.
To remedy the situation and learn more about how to better serve the community he cared for, Cisneros enrolled in the Urban Policy Education program at Brown University. With a third degree in hand, he expanded his foundation with the advent of a community program that prepares high school students for college by helping them navigate financial, scholarship systems and the college application process.
“The work we do with our family foundation is about service to others and our community,” Cisneros noted. “We provide young kids from underserved communities with an opportunity to find their educational dreams. And in the end, it will not only help themselves, but their families and future generations.”
To Cisneros, the path to college starts in kindergarten and creating a path to college so these students can positively contribute and be role models for their communities.
The connection between his work and the mission of service is not lost on him.
“My life right now is about service. I served my country in the Navy and we serve now in our work with these kids. Because in the long run, it will ultimately benefit our country.”
Cisneros is now in full planning mode to run a Congressional campaign in 2018, with a platform on immigration reform and access to education. The campaign, stemming from a desire to help uplift the people he cares for, is simply an extension of the service he has always done.
“Everything starts with education and if we can provide access to college or trade school, we will give future generations a career to make a good life and take care of their communities,” Cisneros says.
Winning the lottery was a miracle, no doubt. But it didn’t change Cisneros. When asked if the lottery changed his life, Cisneros replies simply by saying that the lottery wasn’t the true gift from God. Instead, the true gift was the ability to become a change agent for the benefit of his community.